On November 4, 1922, British Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Tutankhamun, nicknamed King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1333 BCE (when he was just nine years old) until his death in 1323 BCE. After he died, Tutankhamun was mummified, according to tradition, and buried in a tomb filled with artwork, jewelry, and treasures. Shifting desert sands quickly hid the tomb, and it lay undiscovered for more than 3,000 years.

On November 4, Carter discovered the first step of a staircase. The next day, his team exposed the whole staircase, and by the end of November, Carter had excavated an antechamber, a treasury, and the door to the tomb itself. After making a tiny breach in the door, Carter saw a room filled with gold treasures and the sarcophagus containing Tutankhamen’s mummy.

Term

Part of Speech

Definition

Encyclopedic Entry

desert

Noun

area of land that receives no more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of precipitation a year.

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Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society

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Mary Crooks, National Geographic Society

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